返る・反る|かえるkaeru[1]atamadaka (head-high)
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Which spelling to use
返る返る（かえる） is the most common written form, and its kanji-and-kana spelling is the one beginners should normally use.
反る反る is a less common kanji-and-kana variant; beginners should normally recognize 返る instead when choosing a spelling.
Definitions
- godan verb, intransitive verbto return; to come back; to go backesp. 返るのろいはのろい主に返る。↗Curses, like chickens, come home to roost.
- godan verb, intransitive verbto turn over
- suffix, godan verbto become extremely; to become completelyafter the -masu stem of a verb; esp. 返る
Conjugation
| Dictionary form | 返る（かえる） |
|---|---|
| Polite (masu) | 返ります（かえります） |
| Negative (nai) | 返らない（かえらない） |
| polite (masen) | 返りません（かえりません） |
| classical zu / nu | 返らず・返らぬ（かえらず・かえらぬ） |
| Past (ta) | 返った（かえった） |
| polite (mashita) | 返りました（かえりました） |
| Past negative (nakatta) | 返らなかった（かえらなかった） |
| polite (masen deshita) | 返りませんでした（かえりませんでした） |
| Te form | 返って（かえって） |
| Potential | 返れる（かえれる） |
| Passive | 返られる（かえられる） |
| Causative | 返らせる（かえらせる） |
| Causative passive | 返らせられる・返らされる（かえらせられる・かえらされる） |
| Conditional (ba) | 返れば（かえれば） |
| tara | 返ったら（かえったら） |
| Volitional | 返ろう（かえろう） |
| polite (mashou) | 返りましょう（かえりましょう） |
| Imperative | 返れ（かえれ） |
Common forms generated by rule; see the senses for honorific or irregular usage.
Transitive / intransitive pair
元に返る
元に返す
返る emphasizes that something returns to its original state by itself, while 返す emphasizes that someone acts to return something to that state.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Synonyms & antonyms
- Synonym帰るかえるNeutralFor people or animals going home or back to where they were, as in 「家に帰る」; 「返る」 is mostly for things or states reverting.
- Synonym戻るもどるNeutralThe most all-purpose: going back to a former place or state, as in 「席に戻る」「元に戻る」.
- Synonym立ち返るたちかえるWrittenWritten/formal prose: going back to the starting point, as in 「初心に立ち返る」; mostly used abstractly.
- Synonym立ち戻るたちもどるWrittenWritten/formal prose for coming back to something again, as in 「本題に立ち戻る」.
- Synonym帰ってくるかえってくるNeutralComing back, stressing movement toward where the speaker is; common in speech.
- Related引き返すひきかえすNeutralTurning back partway through, as in 「途中で引き返す」; the point is heading back the way you came.
- Related舞い戻るまいもどるNeutralComing back after moving from place to place, as in 「故郷に舞い戻る」; often with a hint of the unexpected.
- Related復帰ふっきNeutralReturning to one's post or making a comeback, as in 「職場復帰」「現役復帰」.
- Related逆戻りぎゃくもどりNeutralSliding back to a previous state, as in 「冬に逆戻り」; usually carries a negative nuance.
- Related引っ返すひっかえすCasualColloquial; an emphatic 「引き返す」 meaning to go back the way one came.
- Related出戻るでもどるCasualGoing back to where one came from; especially returning to one's parents' home after a divorce — colloquial, with a coarse, unrefined nuance.
- AntonymいくNeutralTo go — the opposite of 「返る」 in its sense of coming back.
- Antonym進むすすむNeutralTo advance or move forward — the opposite of 「返る」 in its sense of going back.
Use 「返る」 when a thing or state reverts to its original condition, as in 「手紙が返る」 or 「我に返る」. For people going home pick 「帰る」; for returning to a place or restoring a state, 「戻る」; for turning back midway, 「引き返す」; for going back to the starting point, 「立ち返る」. The opposite of 「返る」 is 「行く」.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese definitions
Kanji in this word
English equivalents
See also
